Duran/Hearns in 1980

I just dont think Roberto could ever deal with the size and style of Hearns..its a bridge to far.
Though people always say Leonard, "fought Duran's fight" the first time around, Ray often would stand his ground a flurry and didnt shy away from fighting on the inside. I dont think it was purely his style to hit and run, not like it was Tommy's and this lent itself to Roberto more then Hearns would.
Tommy would keep this all on the outside and he would be very cautious about trading with Roberto..In the end he is to big, fast and skilled for Duran to do his best work.
I think he takes a clear decision, most would pick a stoppage but Ill give that version of Duran the benifit of the doubt and say he would go the rounds but gets clearly dealt with all the way.

There is no way IMO he loses like he did to Hearns in 84.

 

Some people think Duran would have beaten Hearns if they had fought in 1980. A very small minority might I add. These people forget that Duran isn't quite someone out of a childrens comic, along with Spiderman and Batman.

IMO, Duran is tailor made for Hearns. His brilliant defense, ring generalship, and inside fighting gives him a chance. But it's a chance as slim as someone suffering from anorexia. Hearns has the ability to increase the distance as Duran is trying to decrease it. His jab would control Duran more often than not. Duran has the style which would invite heavy artillery coming his own way against Hearns. And when he tries to be educated and controlled with his pressure - taking his time, he'd be getting thoroughly outboxed at arms length. He'd slip some jabs, no question, but his whole style and gameplan spells disaster. Hearns' uppercut would be a lethal weapon when Duran successfully went from long range to mid-range.

Hearns KO8.

 

Id never rule the Duran of montreal out vs ANYONE but I think your right here, Hearns is all wrong for ESBs favourite son.

Your annalysis seems good but the only disagreement I have is the KO8 part, I say..... UD15 for Tommy.

:good

 

Duran would have his moments, although only briefly during short periods of rounds. I don't see Hearns winning every second of every round. But things obviously need to be averaged out and looked upon sensibly. Duran would need to rush Hearns and show defense he'd never showed before or since the proposed date of this fight. As I said previously, sitting on the outside, thinking carefully, and waiting for the correct moment to strike just gives Hearns time to tee him up with the left jab and right hand. Duran might well slip one or two, but with Hearns' clear advantage in handspeed such defense would only limit the damage. Duran needs to get inside, and I see him having problems getting there on a regular basis to win the majority of the rounds or possibly stop Hearns. I'm not underrating Duran at all. It's simply a bad style for him.

 

Hearns everytime.

 

At that point I think Duran would've edged it, as Tommy was far from his peak and still growing. He'd still give Cholo all he could handle, though. This would've been the only time in history that Duran would've been able to get past Hearns, let alone go the distance.

 

Duran wins some, but loses most of the matches against Tommy. He didn't respect Hearns' chin, and would always make it a shootout from the get-go.

Problem is that Tommy-gun is just too well-armed.

 

It's not just the size of Hearns that's a big problem for Duran, it's the handspeed. Hearns had real fast hands in there and he threw viscious combos with speed and accuracy. I think Duran can maybe avoid the first shot, but that 2nd and 3rd are the problem. And Tommy doesn't have to land clean to have Duran feeling the effects of those punches. And he knew enough to throw those follow-ups just like he did in their 154 bout. I just think Duran is going to get tagged early and he'd need that bell to ring soon and not have 90 seconds to kill in there because he won't against this guy.

 

I definitely agree that Hearns' handspeed combined with his reach off-set Duran's headslips.

 

I think a lot of you are tainting your analysis by the old, out of shape, coming off a mega fight where he took terrific punishment from a hard hitting middleweight champion Du ran with a motivated well prepared Duran.

I know a lot of you will argue this but Hearns weak legs tended to buckle under a battering or a hard shot. Duran would stay low, slip his punches and nail Hearn’s ribs. Any hard shot that Hearns would throw would be absorbed by Duran with no effect. Remember the shots Duran took in his later years from Cuevas, Barkley and Hagler. There is no reason not to think that Duran's brutal loss to Hearns was an aberration.

 

Hearns, anytime, anywhere. Duran might last a bit longer.

 

Like a martini it would be anytime, anyplace, anywhere for a Hearns victory. I think it would go longer but the result would be the same. Hearns by stoppage somewhere around rounds 5-8.

 

The thing is, I don't think Duran had the punching power to trouble Hearns at welterweight, and there is no way he would outbox him.
Hearns is simply too tall, fast and skilled. Hearns between 5-7.

 

Another interesting point. Don't automatically assume that Hearns/Duran would fight Leonard. Cuevas was a dominate & Brutale champion. Who had no fear & throws bone crunching punches. & it took two devistating right hands to seperate him from his title. Leonard was still learning his craft at the championship level at that time. Dundee was wise to steer clear of Cuevas at that piont in Leonards career.